132 lines
5.9 KiB
Groff
132 lines
5.9 KiB
Groff
'\"
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'\" Copyright (c) 1989-1993 The Regents of the University of California.
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'\" Copyright (c) 1994-1996 Sun Microsystems, Inc.
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'\"
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'\" See the file "license.terms" for information on usage and redistribution
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'\" of this file, and for a DISCLAIMER OF ALL WARRANTIES.
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'\"
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'\" SCCS: @(#) CrtInterp.3 1.14 96/03/26 15:14:45
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'\"
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.so man.macros
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.TH Tcl_CreateInterp 3 7.5 Tcl "Tcl Library Procedures"
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.BS
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.SH NAME
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Tcl_CreateInterp, Tcl_DeleteInterp, Tcl_InterpDeleted \- create and delete Tcl command interpreters
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.SH SYNOPSIS
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.nf
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\fB#include <tcl.h>\fR
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.sp
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Tcl_Interp *
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\fBTcl_CreateInterp\fR()
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.sp
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\fBTcl_DeleteInterp\fR(\fIinterp\fR)
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.sp
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int
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\fBTcl_InterpDeleted\fR(\fIinterp\fR)
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.SH ARGUMENTS
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.AS Tcl_Interp *interp
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.AP Tcl_Interp *interp in
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Token for interpreter to be destroyed.
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.BE
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.SH DESCRIPTION
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.PP
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\fBTcl_CreateInterp\fR creates a new interpreter structure and returns
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a token for it. The token is required in calls to most other Tcl
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procedures, such as \fBTcl_CreateCommand\fR, \fBTcl_Eval\fR, and
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\fBTcl_DeleteInterp\fR.
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Clients are only allowed to access a few of the fields of
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Tcl_Interp structures; see the Tcl_Interp
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and \fBTcl_CreateCommand\fR man pages for details.
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The new interpreter is initialized with no defined variables and only
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the built-in Tcl commands. To bind in additional commands, call
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\fBTcl_CreateCommand\fR.
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.PP
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\fBTcl_DeleteInterp\fR marks an interpreter as deleted; the interpreter
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will eventually be deleted when all calls to \fBTcl_Preserve\fR for it have
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been matched by calls to \fBTcl_Release\fR. At that time, all of the
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resources associated with it, including variables, procedures, and
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application-specific command bindings, will be deleted. After
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\fBTcl_DeleteInterp\fR returns any attempt to use \fBTcl_Eval\fR on the
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interpreter will fail and return \fBTCL_ERROR\fR. After the call to
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\fBTcl_DeleteInterp\fR it is safe to examine \fIinterp->result\fR, query or
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set the values of variables, define, undefine or retrieve procedures, and
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examine the runtime evaluation stack. See below, in the section
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\fBINTERPRETERS AND MEMORY MANAGEMENT\fR for details.
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.PP
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\fBTcl_InterpDeleted\fR returns nonzero if \fBTcl_DeleteInterp\fR was
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called with \fIinterp\fR as its argument; this indicates that the
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interpreter will eventually be deleted, when the last call to
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\fBTcl_Preserve\fR for it is matched by a call to \fBTcl_Release\fR. If
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nonzero is returned, further calls to \fBTcl_Eval\fR in this interpreter
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will return \fBTCL_ERROR\fR.
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.PP
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\fBTcl_InterpDeleted\fR is useful in deletion callbacks to distinguish
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between when only the memory the callback is responsible for is being
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deleted and when the whole interpreter is being deleted. In the former case
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the callback may recreate the data being deleted, but this would lead to an
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infinite loop if the interpreter were being deleted.
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.SH "INTERPRETERS AND MEMORY MANAGEMENT"
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.PP
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\fBTcl_DeleteInterp\fR can be called at any time on an interpreter that may
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be used by nested evaluations and C code in various extensions. Tcl
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implements a simple mechanism that allows callers to use interpreters
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without worrying about the interpreter being deleted in a nested call, and
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without requiring special code to protect the interpreter, in most cases.
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This mechanism ensures that nested uses of an interpreter can safely
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continue using it even after \fBTcl_DeleteInterp\fR is called.
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.PP
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The mechanism relies on matching up calls to \fBTcl_Preserve\fR with calls
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to \fBTcl_Release\fR. If \fBTcl_DeleteInterp\fR has been called, only when
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the last call to \fBTcl_Preserve\fR is matched by a call to
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\fBTcl_Release\fR, will the interpreter be freed. See the manual entry for
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\fBTcl_Preserve\fR for a description of these functions.
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.PP
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The rules for when the user of an interpreter must call \fBTcl_Preserve\fR
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and \fBTcl_Release\fR are simple:
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.TP
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Interpreters Passed As Arguments
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Functions that are passed an interpreter as an argument can safely use the
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interpreter without any special protection. Thus, when you write an
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extension consisting of new Tcl commands, no special code is needed to
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protect interpreters received as arguments. This covers the majority of all
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uses.
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.TP
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Interpreter Creation And Deletion
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When a new interpreter is created and used in a call to \fBTcl_Eval\fR,
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\fBTcl_VarEval\fR, \fBTcl_GlobalEval\fR, \fBTcl_SetVar\fR, or
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\fBTcl_GetVar\fR, a pair of calls to \fBTcl_Preserve\fR and
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\fBTcl_Release\fR should be wrapped around all uses of the interpreter.
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Remember that it is unsafe to use the interpreter once \fBTcl_Release\fR
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has been called. To ensure that the interpreter is properly deleted when
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it is no longer needed, call \fBTcl_InterpDeleted\fB to test if some other
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code already called \fBTcl_DeleteInterp\fB; if not, call
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\fBTcl_DeleteInterp\fR before calling \fBTcl_Release\fB in your own code.
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Do not call \fBTcl_DeleteInterp\fR on an interpreter for which
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\fBTcl_InterpDeleted\fR returns nonzero.
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.TP
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Retrieving An Interpreter From A Data Structure
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When an interpreter is retrieved from a data structure (e.g. the client
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data of a callback) for use in \fBTcl_Eval\fR, \fBTcl_VarEval\fR,
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\fBTcl_GlobalEval\fR, \fBTcl_SetVar\fR, or \fBTcl_GetVar\fR, a pair of
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calls to \fBTcl_Preserve\fR and \fBTcl_Release\fR should be wrapped around
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all uses of the interpreter; it is unsafe to reuse the interpreter once
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\fBTcl_Release\fR has been called. If an interpreter is stored inside a
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callback data structure, an appropriate deletion cleanup mechanism should
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be set up by the code that creates the data structure so that the
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interpreter is removed from the data structure (e.g. by setting the field
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to NULL) when the interpreter is deleted. Otherwise, you may be using an
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interpreter that has been freed and whose memory may already have been
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reused.
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.PP
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All uses of interpreters in Tcl and Tk have already been protected.
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Extension writers should ensure that their code also properly protects any
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additional interpreters used, as described above.
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.SH KEYWORDS
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command, create, delete, interpreter
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.SH "SEE ALSO"
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Tcl_Preserve(3), Tcl_Release(3)
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